Lots of people use the words stress and anxiety interchangeably, but they are in fact two distinct conditions. Stress is a reaction to a stimulus, which can be internal or external. You may experience stress because you feel frustrated with something (like waiting in line behind a slow person) or when you are worried that you will not meet expectations (such as missing a deadline at work).
Anxiety, on the other hand, is a sense of dread, or nervousness and fear. It can be caused by negative expectations and thoughts, or as a reaction to stress. You may experience feelings of anxiety virtually all of the time and not know why, or your feelings may be a reaction to something you are nervous about, such as an upcoming test.
Abnormal levels of certain neurotransmitters in the brain can cause generalized anxiety. Some studies indicate that anxiety can be hereditary. Anxiety can also stem from environmental conditions, as when a child whose father or mother is often anxious learns to be an anxious person by observing the parent. But very often the base cause of anxiety is simply the thoughts that a person is thinking!
Stress and anxiety are subjective conditions. Different people may feel stressed about different situations, and different people may respond to their anxiousness in extremely different ways. Symptoms of anxiety can range from the mild, such as tense muscles and sweaty hands, to the severe, such as irregular heartbeat, vomiting, and anxiety attacks.
Everyone feels some amount of anxiety from time to time. We have all experienced the dry mouth and "butterflies in the stomach" before an exam or public speaking engagement. But when does it become harmful to your health? Studies indicate that prolonged anxiety can make us vulnerable to sleep disorders, depression, high blood pressure, and relationship problems
For sufferers of chronic untreated anxiety, there can be negative health consequences that have yet to be explored fully. Some studies have found a link between generalized anxiety disorder and a number of serious health conditions including heart disease, cancer, arthritis, thyroid disease, and respiratory illness. Chronically anxious people may even be more likely to suffer a fatal heart attack.
If you suffer from what seems like a disproportionately high amount of anxiety relative to the situation, or if you feel anxious nearly every day, you may actually have an anxiety disorder. Anxiety disorders are chronic conditions characterized by one's inability to function normally because of constant anxiety. Anxiety disorders are serious conditions that should be treated to reduce the risk of long-term negative health effects.
Anxiety treatment has long been the subject of much discussion in the medical field. Some medical professionals feel that medication is the best treatment for chronic anxiety. However, anxiety medications often have undesirable side effects that are just as bad as or even worse than the initial affliction.
There are plenty of safe and natural ways to handle negative emotional responses. Exercise is one that is often overlooked by anxious people, but it is extremely effective in managing stress and anxiety. When you exercise, your body releases endorphins, which are natural mood-boosting and pain-killing chemicals. With regular aerobic exercise, you may start to experience a dramatic decrease in negative emotional reactions to situations that would previously have made you very anxious.
The most effective way to manage worry and tension is to control it from within. Stress relief and stress management techniques are extremely valuable tools in handling day to day stress. These techniques can teach you to relax yourself and relieve your tension. You make a conscious effort to slow your breathing, release the worry, and maintain a peaceful state of mind. Meditation is a form of tension management in which you focus on mindful relaxation and deep, calming breathing.
However, if you are searching for a proactive method to free yourself of anxiety, hypnosis is the most effective treatment option. When a person undergoes hypnotherapy, their reactions and emotional responses to events are changed at the core. This gives them the opportunity to deal with anxiety-inducing triggers without the typical nervousness and fear.
Hypnosis is typically performed by a licensed hypnotist in a series of regular treatments. More commonly today, hypnosis is available in the form of self hypnosis programs which are available in the form of DVDs, MP3s, or CDs for personal home use. No special skills are needed to perform self hypnosis. All you need is a way to play the hypnosis program and a quiet place where you can listen and relax.
Another successful method of anxiety treatment is Neuro-Linguistic Programming, or NLP. NLP is a type of therapy that helps you retrain yourself to naturally respond to situations in a more positive manner. You can consciously decide to remain calm rather than anxious, meaning that you always maintain control over your own emotions.
In summary, you can see that it is important to manage our negative emotional responses in order to stay healthy. Mastering techniques to cope with fear and nervousness can even extend your life. To treat long-term anxiety, the best course of action is to use hypnosis to change your reactions and attitudes from within. Then, it becomes easy to use stress management techniques as needed to keep calm in everyday situations.
Article Source: http://www.orbitaloc.com/
Alan B. Densky is an NGH certified hypnotherapist. He offers a complete line of stress management hypnosis CDs, and advanced stress elimination CDs through his Neuro-VISION hypnotism website. You can visit his self hypnosis blog, and download a free MP3.
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